Get your downward dog on this Sunday to set you up for the week ahead.

So we’ve covered meditation, which is a huge part of yoga, but yoga itself and the benefits it comes with is a whole other story. While meditation is about simply being, yoga is a form of movement and exercise that requires strength, power and a lot of determination. Roll your mat out or just do it on your floor, as long as you’ve got room to manoeuvre, you’ll be fine. Here’s how you can use it to help you throughout the week.

Don’t panic, there is absolutely no need to jump up and go to a class on this fine Sunday evening, unless you want to of course. The beauty about yoga is that you can do it from your very own home. Whether you already know what you’re doing or you’re a novice following a video on YouTube, it’s so easily done in your front room. You don’t really even need any equipment, especially when you’re just starting out. All you do need, is some space, some water and some air to breathe.

If you’re taking inspiration from videos, here are some of our favourite Yoga YouTube channels.

Yoga can help in so many physical and mental ways. Physically, your flexibility, strength and posture will be improved. These benefits may seem obvious, but the Yoga Journal explained how they all coincide with each other. “Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause back pain. And inflexibility in muscles and connective tissue, such as fascia and ligaments, can cause poor posture.” One benefit leads to another and they all come together to help in multiple aspects of your life.

The mental benefits surrounding yoga partly go back to the meditation. The practice of it should, in time, relax you, your system and your mind. It’s a form of self-control which in the long run can help your life in many aspects. The other half of these mental benefits are from the focus elements of yoga. Practising and controlling your focus will improve focus in general life, making work and other hobbies a lot easier to do.

Yoga helps in so many ways, and even if you find the meditation side of it hard at first, the practical and physical side of it still benefits you. Set yourself up this Sunday night in a quiet room with lots of space and move around. You could even go all out and light some candles (as long as they’re positioned so that you don’t accidentally kick one while in your Warrior III pose). You’ll go to bed feeling stretched out, relaxed and will hopefully get a good nights sleep.

Let us know in the comments if this works for you, or if you have any of your own yoga tips, we’d love to hear them!

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